


His name was David

by KyrstenScribbles



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Teen Angst, its like a timeline, older max
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-31
Updated: 2017-07-31
Packaged: 2018-12-09 08:31:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11665425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KyrstenScribbles/pseuds/KyrstenScribbles
Summary: No one expected the day that David left.





	His name was David

It happened out of nowhere. No one expected the day that David left. No goodbyes, no tears, no hugs. No explanations. Just a group of campers waking up to his abandoned cabin one morning.  
Max didn't think much of it. Maybe the counselor had gone out on some weird night trip. Maybe he'd been dragged off by a bear. It wasn't like Max cared much for his presence anyway.

one week

He's probably coming back soon, Max told himself as he scanned the mess hall. Once again, he had awoken to find no David, just a disgruntled Gwen sitting alone. Max sat alone as well, deep in thought.  
He could have gone off to Spooky Island and gotten stuck. Yep. That's exactly what happened. The curly haired boy decided to stick to that theory. David would come back as soon as he was able to fix up a raft and row back to the campgrounds. Max wouldn't go out to help him. He didn't care about David. He couldn't care if he ever came back.

one month

It had to be nearing midnight. The full moon stood directly above max in the star freckled sky, illuminating just enough for the child to see what he was doing. Max stumbled over sand hills and rocks as he made his way out to the lake water that beckoned him like a cesspool of everything he's ever wanted. Maybe it was everything he's ever wanted. Maybe it lead to what he needed.  
Who he needed.  
Caught in thought, Max didn't notice when his hoodie stuck on a piece of the jagged canoe, ripping the fabric. His small arms shook as they heaved the heavy wooden object onto the water. Grabbing the oars from inside the canoe pit, he pushed it into the water and rowed, cursing to himself and splashing droplets of dirty water all around himself.  
The child's arms ached as he rowed to Spooky Island.  
But hours later, both his arms and heart ached as he rowed back to Camp Campbell empty handed and alone.

two months

The camp was almost over and David had yet to return to its grounds.  
It was his fault. Max knew he was to blame. Everything reminded him of his lost counselor. The tables where Max had sat, plotting to ruin David's day, the kitchen Max would steal knives from to threaten David with, and the nature David had tried so hard to make Max love. The child couldn't forget that last part. He could avoid the mess hall. He could run away from camp. However, nowhere would be free of nature. He couldn't escape it. He couldn't escape the green grasses, the trees, or the sinking feeling he got when he was forced to think of the man he had chased away. Max had never been religious, but still he prayed to every cruel God to bring back the sunshine named David in his life. His breath was wasted.

six months

School had started once again, as it does every year. Max had joined a few clubs and met interesting people. He was always so busy. He loved being busy. It gave him less time to think.  
Even so, there were times where Max was left alone in his room. There were times the boy could not sleep and sat alone with his thoughts. There were times when Max's parents would beat and berate him and all he could think of was how David would never treat him like that.  
David would never let him go to bed hungry.  
David would never deny him a hug.  
David would never speak so ill of him.  
David would never treat him so rotten.  
But David would never come back.  
And that fault belonged to Max.

11 months

Summer was coming fast. Max had attempted to fill the camp-sized hole in his heart with people, places, and things. Nothing really worked and he hadn't really expected it to.  
He had struggled to make a decision on whether or not to go back to Camp Campbell.  
Maybe David would be there.  
He hoped and he prayed David would be back and be forgiving.  
He prayed to see that red hair and annoying smile.  
Please, at least one more time, he begged as his parents signed the camp form.

one year

Nothing. Max had come back for nothing. Camp Campbell was barren of its living sunshine, and now Max had to deal with it all Summer.  
Once again having to battle with the guilt of knowing it was all his fault.  
He cried so hard he vomited that night.

two years

Max didn't go back to Camp Campbell. He knew what was waiting for him there. He knew he wouldn't find the man he had taken for granted.

four years

Max was put up for adoption after his middle school PE coach found all his scars and called CPS. The child was put through home after home, asking anyone he could if they knew David or if they had any idea where he was.  
His obsession got him kicked out from many homes.  
David would never do that to him.

six years

Max didn't like to admit he still had the teddy bear. The one that he had at camp all those years ago.  
The one that David had helped to fix after Max had ripped it.  
Over the years the boy had renamed the bear David.

ten years

Max piled boxes upon boxes as he reorganized and tried to figure out what to take with him to college and what to leave behind. He found a small, dusty box full of old papers and slips.  
Probably receipts.  
He pulled it out quickly and sifted through the contents for anything significant. The man's fingers found themselves wrapped around something a little longer than all the other slips.  
A Camp Campbell pamphlet.  
Max's bright eyes glossed over with sadness and nostalgia as his eyebrows wrinkled.

The man...

His name was David... Wasn't it?

**Author's Note:**

> hey, I wrote this up in like 5 minutes, sorry if the grammar or context isn't great. Criticisms welcome !


End file.
